Front-band construction for



iz'xamm March 13, 1945. R. E. CLARKSON BAND CONSTRUCTION FOR FIREARMSFRONT- Filed Da e. 9, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l M M Z aw W Examin March 13,1945. R. E. CLARKSON F RONT-BAND CONSTRUCTION FOR FIREARMS Filed Dec. 9,1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n 5 Wm M Patented Mar. 13, 1945 Examiner FRONT-BAND CONSTRUCTION FOR FIREARMS Ralph E. Clarkson, Hamden, Comm, assignor toWestern Cartridge Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of DelawareApplication December 9, 1941, Serial No. 422,217

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in firearms and relatesmore particularly to improvements in the construction of the front-bandsof firearms which serve to couple the stock to a barrel.

The present invention is primarily designed for use with self-loadingrepeating firearms of the military type, though not so limited, sincesuch firearms are especially subjected to very rapid fire which causesexcessive heating of the barrel.

It may here be noted that one of the deleterious effects of a very hotbarrel is that of charring the stock of the firearm if the stock or itsequivalent is closely fitted to the barrel in accordance with standardpractice. Prior efforts to provide adequate clearance between a stockand its complemental barrel, in order to minimize or avoid charring,have been open to various serious objections, among which may bementioned undue looseness of the parts and binding and deflecting actionupon the barrel.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a superiorfront-band construction for firearms which will reliably and securelyunite a stock to a barrel.

Another object of the present, invention is to provide a superiorfront-band construction for firearms by means of which a stock may beeffectively held in spaced relationship with respect to a barrel, tominimize damage to such a stock as a result of excessive heatingincident to the rapid and continued discharge of the firearm of whichthe said barrel and the said stock form a part.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a superiorfront-band construction which will effectively hold a stock or itsequivalent in spaced relationship with respect to a barrel and whichwill, at the same time, avoid the distortion of the said barrel as anincident to the coupling of the stock thereto.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to thoseskilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includesall features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out thepresent invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a broken view in side elevation of the forward portion of a'military firearm having a front-band construction embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof in vertical centrallongitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view of the front-band detached and viewing the same fromthe rear;

Fig. 6 is a view of the front-band detached viewing the same from thefront thereof;

Fig, '7 is a sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the locating-band member, detached.

In the particular front-band and associated structure herein chosen forpurposes of illustrating the present invention, a front-band I0 isemployed which is of generally tubular form and which fits over afirearm-barrel ll adjacent the muzzle-end thereof and receives a portionof a stock l2 and barrel-cover or hand-guard 13. The front-band itselfis preferably formed of highgrade forged steel, as is also the barrelll, while the stock l2 and barrel-cover I3 are preferably formed of woodor other suitable heat-insulating material.

The front-band 10 comprises in the structure shown a tubular body-memberl4 and a ring-like locating-band l5 which latter is sized to snugly fitover the adjacent portion of the barrel I I and having its under portionextending beneath the said barrel to provide what may be termed, forconvenience of description, an upwardly-facing stop-abutment I6 forpurposes as will hereinafter appear.

The body-member I 4 of the front-band unit In is formed with atransverse notch I! of a depth extending substantially to the axialcenter of the barrel H and resulting in the formation at the upperportion of the front end of the said bodymember of a front strap-portion18 extending around substantially the upper half of the barrel I l. Thenotch I! just referred to also results in the formation at the rearupper portion of the body-member M of a rear strap-portion l9 alsoextending around substantially all of the upper half of the barrel H.Throughout the major portion of its width, the rear strap-portion l9 ofthe body-member l4 conforms to the contour of the upper portion of thebarrel I l and is radially spaced therefrom, but at its rear end thesaid rear strap-portion I9 is enlarged to form asubstantially-semicircular retaining-lip 20 within which fits asubstantially-semicircular tenon 2! formed at the forward end of thebarrel-cover l3. The rear edge of the retaining-lip 20 just referred tois normally seated against a forwardly-facing shoulder 22 formed on thebarrel-cover I3 at the rear of the tenon 2| thereof.

The forward portion of the stock I2 is reduced in size to provide aforwardly-projecting tenon 23 extending through the lower portion of thebodymember I4 and beyond the front end thereof. At the rear of its saidtenon 23, the stock I2 is formed with a forwardly-facing shoulder 24normally aligned with the shoulder 22 of the barrelcover I3 and seatedagainst the rear edge of the said body-member I4, as will be apparent byreference to Figs. 1 and 2 in particular.

The stock I2 is formed in its upper face with a longitudinally-extendinggroove 25 of substantially-semicircular form in cross section and havinga transverse shape and dimension suflicient to amply clear the underportion of the barrel II, to provide a longitudinal ventilation-passagepreferably opening through the extreme forward end of the said stock.The said stock I2 is preferably so dimensioned that its upper edges oneach of the respective opposite sides of the barrel I I are locatedabout midway of the vertical thickness of the said barrel. Similarly,the barrel-cover I3 is formed in its under face with a longitudinalgroove 21 of substantially-semicircular form in cross section and havinga transverse dimension sufiicient to provide a longitudinalventilationpassage around the upper portion of the barrel II.

As will be seen by reference to Figs. 3 and 4 in particular, therespective lower edges of the barrel-cover I3 normally rest upon therespective upper edges of the stock I2 on each of the respectiveopposite sides of the barrel I I.

The front strap-portion I8 of the body-member I4 is ofsubstantially-semicircular form in cross section and is proportioned tosnugly receive in its interior substantially the entire upper half ofthe locating-ring I5 before referred to. In the instance shown, thelocating-ring I 5 is rigidly attached to the body-member I4 by means oftwo (more or less) rivets 2929 extending respectively in divergingdirections through the upper portion of the locating-ring I5 and throughthe adjacent portions of the front strap-portion I8 of the saidbody-member Ill, Preferably the 10- cating-ring I5 is formed in itsperiphery with an annular groove 30 in the upper portion of which may bepositioned a length of copper wire or its equivalent. After thelocating-ring I5 has been secured to the body-member I4 by the rivets29-29 or other suitable means, the entire structure may be heated in anon-oxidizing atmosphere to melt such copper or other soldering orbrazing material as may be located in the upper portion of the groove30, with the effect of melting such copper and causing the same tospread by capillary action between the inner face of the frontstrap-portion I8 and the juxtaposed portion of the locating-ring I5.Upon being permitted to cool, the copper or its equivalent will solidifyand will serve to rigidly unite the locating-ring I5 with thebody-member I4, in a manner capable of withstanding the severest shockswithout rupture.

The forward portion of the body-member I4 on its underside may beprovided, as shown, with a bayonet-lug 3| adapted to be engaged by andto support the handle end of a bayonet (not shown) in a manner wellknown in the art of military firearms.

Adjacent its rear edge, the body-member I4 is formed on its undersidewith two laterallyspaced-apart and depending-ears 3232 receiving betweenthem the upwardly-projecting tang 33 of a strap-swivel 34. The saidstrap-swivel 34 is secured to the body-member I4 with capacity forpivotal movement in a direction longitudinally of the firearm, by ascrew or stud 35 extending through the ears 32-32 and through the tang33, referred to.

Adjacent its rear edge, the body-member I4 of the front band-unit I0 iformed in its opposite sides respectively with coaxial passages 36 and3'! located in a horizontal plane slightly beneath the under face of thebarrel I I.

Extending transversely through the tenon 23 of the stock I2 and seatedat its respective opposite ends in the passages 36 and 3! of thebodymember I4, is a retaining-pin 38 which serves to couple the entirefront-band unit ID to the stock I2 against forward displacement withrespect thereto. As is shown particularly well in Fig, 3, thebody-member I4 is formed in its left side wall with a vertical pocket 39having its lower end intersecting the top of the passage 36 andaccommodating a helical compression-spring 40 and a locking-plunger 4|.The spring 40 just referred to serves to normally hold the lower end ofthe locking-plunger 4I seated in the adjacent one of tw locking-recesses4242, one of which is formed adjacent each of the respective oppositeends of the retaining-pin 38 before referred to.

Preferably and as shown, the locating-ring I5 is formed separately andthen rigidly united with the body-member I4 for purposes of economy ofmanufacture. Preferably also, the said locatingring completely encirclesthe adjacent portion of the barrel II though this is not essential Solong as a stop-abutment such as I6 is provided which will prevent thefront-band unit from moving upwardly with reference to the barrel I I.

By reference to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, it will be apparent that theforward portion of the stock I 2 is prevented from moving upwardlytoward the barrel II by the retaining-pin 38 and by the engagement ofthe respective upper side edges of the said stock with the complementalunder edges of the barrel-cover I 3. Even in the absence of theretaining-pin 38 or its equivalent, the stock I2. would be preventedfrom moving upwardly by the barrel-cover I3, since the saidbarrel-cover, in turn, is prevented from being displaced upwardly by theretaining-lip 20 and the tenon 2|.

Since the stock I2 is stabilized against upward displacement withrespect to the front-band unit I0, and since the said front-band unit isprevented from upward displacement with respect to the barrel II by thestop-abutment I6 or its equivalent formed by the under portion of thelocating-ring I5, the said stock I2 may be held in spaced relationshipwith respect to the underside of the barrel II in such manner as toprovide adequate ventilation and a heat-insulating space. In thismanner, the stock I2, as Well as the barrel-cover I3, is prevented frombeing materially damaged by heat emanating from the barrel II despitethe fact that the said barrel, on occasion, will approach almost a redheat when the firearm is rapidly discharged over considerable periods oftime.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than thoseherein set forth without departing from the spirit and essentialcharacteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

A firearm-structure including in combination: a barrel; a stock locatedadjacent the underside of the said barrel and covering substantially therel-cover having the under faces of its respective opposite sidesengaged with the upper faces of the respective opposite sides of thesaid stock;

Examiner a tubular front-band unit fitting over the said barrel and alsoover portions of the said stock and the said barrel-cover; and alocating-ring encircling the said barrel and rigidly attached to thesaid front-band unit within the upper portion thereof and extending intoengagement with the under portion of the said barrel at a point betweenthe latter and the said stock, the said locating-ring being out ofcontact with the said stock and holding the said front-band unit andhence the said stock against displacement transversely relative to thesaid barrel.

RALPH E. CLARKSON.

